Safety guard for child&#39;s high chair



MW 25. R. 1K. wALDo 3,185,521

SAFETY FDR mws HIGH CHAIR Fim umh 9, 1964 A mi FIG RUSS K. wALDO INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS 3,185,521 SAFETY GUARD FOR CHILDS HIGH CHAIR Russ K. Waldo, 7926 12th Ave. SW., Seattle, Wash. Filed Mar. 9, 1964, Sel'. No. 350,219 6 Claims. (Cl. 297-153) This invention relates to a childs high chair, andpertains more especially to the tray portion thereof. For its general object the invention aims to provide a tray having a perfected safety guard` associated therewith, the guardn beingattacliedt'o and depending from the underside of the tray and being characterized in that the same gives positive protection, for a child occupying the chair, against liability f either sliding forward or rising to a standing position`.`

A further and important object of the invention is to devise a` safety guard which can be attached to the trays of existing high chairs and one which is adjustable to accommodate itself to high chairs which differA in point of the distance to which the tray is spaced above the seat.

The invention has the yet additional object of providing a functionally superior safety guard and one requiring no harness-type straps to confine the child in the chair, by such token permitting the tray with its depending guard to be more easily and expeditiouslyapplied to and removed from an occupant of the chair and also giving assured protection against a child, either by intent or accident, freeing itself from the confinement imposed by the guard.

With the foregoing objects and advantages in view, and further aiming to provide a safety guard of simple, inexpensive and durable construction, the invention consists in the novel construction and in the adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view illustrating a childs high chair equipped with a safety guard constructed to embody preferred teachings of the present invention, and showing a child in the chair to illustrate the manner in which the safety guard functions.

FIG. 2 is a rear elevational view of the tray and guard, drawn to a scale enlarged from that of FIG. 1 and shown detached from the high chair.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary underside plan view, and indicating by phantom lines the body and legs of a child in the position occupied when seated in the chair; and

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional View on line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

Referring to said drawing, the numeral designates a childs high chair of the type in which the tray 11 is bodily removable, being arranged to seat upon permanent arm-rests 12 and having secured to the underside, along each of the two sides, a respective one of two latch fittings 13. These latch fittings ank the arm-rests and have interlitting connection with notched bars carried by the arm-rests. The latching elements of said latch fittings commonly are presented at one end of a lever 14 fulcrumed at its mid-length for rocker motion about a horizontal axis. The catch is arranged to lodge in a selected one of several notches, and is retracted, against the yielding influence of a spring, by finger pressure applied to the other end of the lever.

In a modified non-illustrated type of high chair, yokearms integral with the tray serve as the arm-rests and are pivoted to the back of the chair so `as to be swung up and over the chair-back when the child is to be placed upon or removed from the seat.

Adapting itself to either of the above types of tray, the safety guard of the present invention is a stanchionlike structure producing two open-bottom stalls. De-

United States Patent O ice fining these stalls is an inner post 15 common to both, two outer posts 16 and 17, and two headers 18 and 19, with the headers being connected to the inner post by Va weld joint and to the related outer post by a shoulder bend 20. The shoulder bends are developed on a rather long radius. These several stall-forming'components are desirably drawn from pipe stock, aluminum by preference, and have the lower ends of the several posts closed by round-headed plugs 21 so as to obviate any sharp edge. Considering said stanchion-like structure in plan configuration, the two headers occupy planes angular to one another, desirably a fiat angle on the order of,1say, Dimensionally considered, 5%1 O.D. is a suitable pipe stock, with the side posts 16 and 17 having a 4 length and the headers (shoulders included) a 5" length. The center post 15 projects a moderate distance above the point of juncture with the headers, and is open at the top. A drill-hole accommodating a bolt 22 traverses the center post. A plastic-lined knurled set-nut 23 is threaded on a projecting end of the bolt.

A pipe 24 is received for telescopic slide adjustment within the center post 15, providing selectively employed diametrical drill-holes 25 which are adapted to receive the bolt 22 upon being selectively brought into register with the center-posts drill-hole. A mounting iiange 26 is provided upon the exposed upper end of the pipe 24. This flange bears against the underside of the tray 11 and is secured thereto by counter-sunk bolts 27, being located in close proximity to the trays inner edge in a position centered withV respect to the width of the tray and such that the intersecting biased planes of the stalls are placed symmetrical to the trays minor axis and with the lesser, namely 150, dihedral angle facing in an inward direction, i.e. toward the back of the chair.

The manner in which the guard functions is thought to be clear from the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the phantom illustration of a childs torso in FIG. 3 of the drawing. The babys legs L are restrained by the posts and headers of the stalls against being drawn upwardly in that no more than very limited lateral or vertical motion of the legs is permitted. The herringbone attitude of the two planes in which the stalls lie, serving as it does to locate the outer posts somewhat to the rear of the transverse vertical plane occupied by the center post, is found to positively preclude a child from twisting the body in any manner capable of freeing a leg from the restraining iniiuence of the related Stall. The adjustment feature perforce allows the guard to adapt itself to trays of varying heights, maintaining much the same spacing between the seat level of the chair and the headers of the stalls. The bottom end of the guard desirably should lie about 1A above the seat.

It is believed that the invention will have been clearly understood from the foregoing detailed description of my now-preferred illustrated embodiment. Changes in the details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention and it is accordingly my intention that no limitations be implied and that the hereto annexed claims be given the broadest interpretation to which the employed language fairly admits.

What I claim is:

1. A safety guard attachement for the tray of a childs high chair, comprising a 3-pronged stanchion producing two open-bottom stalls each defined between an upright inner prong which is common to both stalls and a respectivel upright outer prong which is spaced laterally from the inner prong a distance somewhat greater than the Width of a childs thigh, headers being provided at the top of the stalls rigidly connecting the three prongs, and

a mounting means adapted to be attached to the tray so as to suspend the stanchion from the underside of the tray to occupy a position centered with respect to the width of the tray in a transverse vertical plane adjacent the inner margin of the tray.

2. A safety guard attachment according to claim 1 in which the stanchion has its inner prong moderately offset from a vertical plane common to the two outer prongs to give the stanchion a flat-V conguration when viewed from an end, the dihedral angle which is defined between the wings of said V facing toward the back of the high chair when the stanchion is attached t0 the tray.

3. A safety guard attachment according to claim 2 in which said dihedral angle is on the order of 150.

4. A safety guard attachment according to claim 1 in which the prongs and headers are composed of pipe stock with the outer prongs and the related headers connecting by a shoulder bend developed on a comparatively long radius.

5. A safety guard attachment according to claim l in which means are provided between the mounting means and the stall portion of the stanchion permitting the stall portion to be set in selected positions vertically adjusted with respect to the tray.

6. A safety guard attachment according to claim 5, the mounting means having a depending post telescopical- 1y associated with the inner prong of the stall part, the means for adjustably setting the stall portion comprising a nutted bolt received through a cross-bore provided by the inner prong and a registering bore selected from a vertically spaced series of cross-bores provided by the post.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 811,933 2/06 Kugel 297-390 1,237,301 8/17 Cooney 297-390 1,259,604 3/18 Cook 297-390 1,902,367 3/33 Johnson 297-390 2,532,812 12/50 Huber 297-390 2,687,167 8/54 Janesick 297-390 2,826,246 3/58 Adams et al 297-390 2,851,084 9/58 Benjetsky 297-390 FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner. 

1. A SAFETY GUARD ATTACHMENT FOR THE TRAY OF A CHILD''S HIGH CHAIR, COMPRISING A 3-PRONGED STANCHION PRODUCING TWO OPEN-BOTTOM STALLS EACH DEFINED AN UPRIGHT INNER PRONG WHICH IS COMMON TO BOTH SALLS AND A RESPECTIVE UPRIGHT OUTER PRONG WHICH IS SPACED LATERALLY FROM THE INNER PRONG A DISTANCE SOMEWHAT GREATER THAN THE WIDTH OF A CHILD''S THIGH, HEADERS BEING PROVIDED AT THE 